Another season underway and it couldn’t have come soon enough. Literally. COVID gave us for the first time in show history, two seasons only separated by two weeks. Don’t get used to it. At least, I hope we don’t need to get used to it because the only way this happens again is if there’s another global pandemic that shuts everything down. You gotta give props to the Bachelor franchise since they were one of the first shows in all of television back in July to start back up and film using the new safety protocols. Lets face it, the “Bachelorette” walked so “Cobra Kai” could run. Ok, plenty of shows know how to film during COVID now, but I just chose that since I binged the whole season last Friday morning from 2:00am CT to 7:30am. Weird thing was, I was never tired. Wasn’t eating anything, wasn’t drinking anything, nothing. I knew I wanted to start it once Netflix released it and get through at least half the episodes. But once I was done with 5, well, there was no stopping me. Great season, thoroughly enjoyed it, and now, I guess I have to wait roughly a year to see the next one. Oh well. Karate Kid ruled my life in 5th grade, and watching these 3 seasons has been one long trip down memory lane I tell ya’. I never thought they could make a TV series out of this without ruining my memories of the movie. Boy was I wrong.
Anyway, lets gets started with the best news I could possibly think of to start the new year. As I tweeted it out yesterday, tonight at 8ET/5PT, I will resume my IG Live with Ashley Spivey. This was always about whenever Ashley was ready to re-join, she talked it over with her Steve and her family, and she really is looking forward to coming back. I know I am and a lot of you are as well, but please, for the love of God, make this a pleasant experience for her. I swear to God if any of you asshole trolls show up in the comments and she wants to shut this down, you will not hear the end of it from me. Ashley and I haven’t spoken other than a few texts here and there since she lost CJ on Thanksgiving. I don’t even know how much she’s willing to talk about it to be honest. This will be a week-by-week thing I would think. She will dictate if she’s up for doing the show every week, not me. So please tune in, and if you do, don’t be an asshole. I can’t believe I have to actually say that…but I know I do.
The last few years, usually in my first recap of the season, I start to promote the Reality Steve Fan Appreciation Party in Las Vegas, which is usually the first weekend in June. Last years was cancelled due to COVID and, right now as we sit here on Jan. 5th, I have no idea if/when there will be a party this season. I can’t knowingly throw a party of a 100 people in a room today, I know that. Could we do one in June? Do I push it back to August or September? Do I make everyone wear masks? Do I only allow vaccinated people in? These are all questions I don’t know the answer to. It’s kind of impossible to plan for something 6 months from now since we just don’t know where we’ll be as a country at that point. But just know when I know what I plan on doing, I’ll let everyone else know.
Two big breakups over the last week in Bachelor Nation as Carly & Evan called it quits, as did Peter and Kelley. You heard Thursday’s podcast with Evan’s ex on it, Carly responded with a YouTube video of her own that seriously had me scratching my head just reading the things she said in it. Nothing I read disputed anything that Marie said on the podcast Thursday. Carly moved out and has not been living with Evan for at least the last 18 months. She didn’t dispute that as far as I know, and that’s the main point Marie made on the podcast. Yes, I understand that they “officially” split with the announcement last week, but that’s not what was talked about in the podcast. We can debate all day long about how much you were really working on your marriage with someone you weren’t living with for the last 18 months of your marriage, and how you can say you’re not gonna talk about your divorce but then blame him in a YouTube video for it til we’re blue in the face. The bottom line is Evan officially filed for divorce last week, but they haven’t been living together since the early stages of her pregnancy with Charlie. Something she didn’t deny and hasn’t been known until last week.
As for Peter and Kelley, whoa. This is surely a hot button topic no doubt. And the amount of “find out the details!” emails I got since that announcement was kinda funny. Because seemingly when I try and find out details, I’m accused of taking one side over the other. I know nothing about Peter and Kelley’s breakup. Had never heard there was trouble, didn’t know it was coming, and was just as surprised as the next person when the announcement was made. Tons of rumors and innuendo on social media that I know nothing about. So unfortunately, I got nothing for you on this one. If you wanna believe trash IG accounts that post every single anonymous tip that is sent to them, be my guest. I haven’t gotten anything sent to me regarding them. Anything at this point by me would be pure speculation. And when I give something speculative, that turns into “Reality Steve said…” and all the sudden it’s taken as fact. Social media sucks right about now, lets face it. You can’t say anything about anything without being shit on. I’m over it.
You know, I was thinking the other day with so many recent breakups in Bachelor Nation that do you realize there are only 2 couples in Bachelor Nation that aren’t married or engaged? I mean, public ones. I’ve heard rumblings of two people from the franchise dating but have no idea if they’re true or not. But I’m talking about public couples that we all know about. The only two from this franchise that aren’t engaged or married are Dean & Caelynn and Jason & Kaitlyn. But lets face it, everyone pretty much knows Jason is gonna be proposing any minute now. They talk about it all the time and it’s not like it’s a secret. I gotta believe that’s happening some time in the first 6 months of the year. And Dean and Caelynn have that weird thing they do where they live together, do everything together, but don’t know if they need paperwork to define their relationship or whatever. So yeah, you can almost call both those couples engaged at this point since they live together. Can you think of any two Bachelor Nation people that are just dating right now that are public? I can’t. I assume not having BIP last summer is playing a role in this, along with COVID since it’s not that easy to just pack up and fly to meet someone. Victoria Fuller and Chris Soules would’ve qualified for this, but they broke up. Or did they get back together? I’ve lost track. Just something I was thinking about the other day with so many recent breakups in the franchise.
So yesterday’s post gave you what I’ve been told about this season so far. It’s not a ton, but at least you have an idea about the ending. Like I said, a lot of people in Cumming, GA have been chirping saying it’s Rachael. Am I certain of it? No. Because I haven’t seen what I feel I need to see to confirm it. And this stems from being told all season how many people in Auburn came to me during Peter’s season saying they “heard” Madi and Peter were engaged. We know that didn’t happen. The same thing has been happening for the last month. Numerous emails and tips of “I live in Cumming, GA and the word around here is…” Great. While it eventually might be true, that’s not what I base a spoiler on. I need something more definitive than that. I just haven’t gotten the proof I need. Anyone can say, “I heard Rachael is the winner.” I get stuff like that every season. I need something a little deeper than that. If/when I get it, you’ll be the first to know. But I wanted to tell you what I’d been told the most about since filming ended.
On to last night’s shit show on social media…
irisvioletgrey4
January 5, 2021 at 10:30 AM
I always like to read RS’s recaps before I watch the episodes the day after on Hulu, but this season already sounds so appalling that I think I’ll skip the watching.
shenanigans
January 5, 2021 at 2:08 PM
Hannah Godwin and Dylan Barbour are still together.
joanne
January 5, 2021 at 3:59 PM
I really like Matt a lot. Not impressed with most of the women.
ctrealitygirl
January 6, 2021 at 6:03 AM
I wholly agree with you joanne. I actually feel badly for Matt as his lot of women is pretty lame. And, was it just me, or did all their gowns look a lot alike?? Maybe a couple who wore something drastically different but mostly strappy, glittery long gowns. BORING! I really do think with the emphasis on social media, the pickings for decent Bachelor/ette participants will get slimmer and slimmer. I miss the “old” days when the contestants seemed more genuine. Beginning to be a farce. I so looked forward to Matt’s season and wound up sleeping thru most of the episode.
ladyjane747
January 6, 2021 at 8:18 AM
Matt’s okay. Kind of came across as awkward, which was hard to watch. Hopefully, he’ll relax as the season goes on. Victoria is super annoying and not very attractive. The woman from Africa is gorgeous. And I’m scratching my head over claims that Rachael is “racist.” Why would a racist go on a show to date a black guy? And then possibly get engaged to him? Yeah, okay. And those little brown shirts need to stop with the mask-shaming, already. Mind your own business. If you’re so terrified of a cold-like virus where you have a 99.97 (higher for people in this age group) chance of survival, you should stay home under the covers. Sheesh! Can’t imagine what these people would’ve done during the AIDS epidemic. Once you got HIV, it was all over. I had two friends die of AIDS. There was NO survival rate back then.
rob22
January 8, 2021 at 9:37 AM
ladyjane, the death rate is around 1% overall, obviously less for younger people. About 20% of cases require hospitalization. Obviously that will skew lower for younger people. But hospitalization is no picnic. I’ve had 3 friends hospitalized & 1 died. The ones that were hospitalized & came home described it as a traumatic experience and were thanking God when they were able to come home. They were basically suffocating for 2-3 weeks, which is a panic inducing state to be in. That’s not what happens with Colds or Flu. You also have people with lingering symptoms & there are some that are “long haulers” that are sick for months with no explanation or treatment available. Permanent lung damage as well as other permanent side effects such as blood clots have also been observed in too many people. My son’s 25 year old fiance had it, and though she had a mild case, her sense of taste hasn’t returned after several months. Also with the social distancing & mask wearing (though unfortunately not universal) has driven down the Flu rates to historic lows, showing how effective these precautions can be. You’re fooling yourself if you think COVID equates with the flu or a bad cold and that death is the only thing to worry about with COVID (though rolling the dice with a 1% chance of dying doesn’t seem like a wise move). This isn’t a political issue. Until COVID is eliminated, or at least driven down to low levels, our economy and our way of life will not return. Be a patriot. Do your part!